Cognition and learning in horses (Equus caballus): What we know and why we should ask more

Brubaker, Lauren; Udell, Monique A. R.

doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2016.03.017

Cited by 49 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 124 publications

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“…Breed types differed in their behavior: thoroughbreds showed less human-directed behavior than warmbloods and ponies. Our results provide evidence that horses use emotional cues from humans to guide their behavior towards novel objects.including expressions such as posture, vocal signals, gazes, or emotional cues [3,4]. However, it is less clear how horses respond to human emotional cues in situations of uncertainty.…”

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confidence: 77%

“…Horses are particularly interesting as they have not only been selected for meat, easy temper, or performance, but also for being a human-oriented and cooperative partner [2]. Today, horses are mainly kept for recreational or sports purposes, and most recreational riders seek companionship with their horses [3]. Consequently, it can be expected that horses show advanced communicative skills towards humans.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…including expressions such as posture, vocal signals, gazes, or emotional cues [3,4]. However, it is less clear how horses respond to human emotional cues in situations of uncertainty.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Social Referencing in the Domestic Horse

Schrimpf

Single

Nawroth

2020

Animals

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Dogs and cats use human emotional information directed to an unfamiliar situation to guide their behavior, known as social referencing. It is not clear whether other domestic species show similar socio-cognitive abilities in interacting with humans. We investigated whether horses (n = 46) use human emotional information to adjust their behavior to a novel object and whether the behavior of horses differed depending on breed type. Horses were randomly assigned to one of two groups: an experimenter positioned in the middle of a test arena directed gaze and voice towards the novel object with either (a) a positive or (b) a negative emotional expression. The duration of subjects’ position to the experimenter and the object in the arena, frequency of gazing behavior, and physical interactions (with either object or experimenter) were analyzed. Horses in the positive condition spent more time between the experimenter and object compared to horses in the negative condition, indicating less avoidance behavior towards the object. Horses in the negative condition gazed more often towards the object than horses in the positive condition, indicating increased vigilance behavior. Breed types differed in their behavior: thoroughbreds showed less human-directed behavior than warmbloods and ponies. Our results provide evidence that horses use emotional cues from humans to guide their behavior towards novel objects.

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confidence: 77%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social Referencing in the Domestic Horse

Schrimpf

Single

Nawroth

2020

Animals

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“…Infelizmente, algumas vezes, seja por falta de conhecimento, de possibilidade ou até por negligência, ocorrem falhas em atender algumas destas necessidades, quando não, a todas (Cooper & Mcgreevy, 2007;Brubaker & Udell, 2016). Como exemplos de limitações a suas motivações, podemos citar equinos que são mantidos o dia todo em uma cocheira pequena, sendo limitadas suas possibilidades de se deslocar e/ ou interagir com um grupo social e podem se sentir ameaçados por estarem isolados.…”

Section: Quais As Principais Necessidades Comportamentais Dos Equinos?unclassified

Otimizando o desempenho e o bem-estar de equinos usados em atividades esportivas

Schmidek¹

2018

Revista Brasileira De Zoociências

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Optimizing the performance and welfare of horses in sports activities. Horses are born athletes. Throughout their evolution, they have been trained in a really arduous way, as the less skilled individuals in running and jumping over natural fences -which were on their escape routes from predators -certainly left fewer offspring, if any. Although the domestication of the equines occurred since a long time ago, to this day they continue to present the main characteristics of their ancestral ones: they are group animals, scared and afraid of predators, that feel insecure when alone and that spend much of their day walking and grazing. In nature, it is difficult to identify environments or days in the life of living beings, with the absence of some type or degree of stress. Many of the knowledge and learning of the equines that occur in nature or from human training involve some degree of stress, which indicates to be a trait whose optimal values are intermediate. Regarding skills learned trought some stress degree, it seems that the learning of the horse does not occur when the stress (or pressure) occurs, but at the moment of its relief. Thus, the more immediate the pressure relief, the more efficient the learning will be. There seems to be a consensus that relaxed and motivated horses have improved learning outcomes and more fearful horses are more influenced by the training system. We could sum up in minimal pressure, immediate, long and frequent relief of pressure, repetition of exercises, consistency in asking the exercises, and finish the training section in a positive way, with correctness, even if an easy task as the main strategies or tools for equine training. In practical terms, the best training for each horse involves improving the communication between human and equine, both in terms of understanding the urges and fears of each horse, drawing up an individualized training plan, and adopting rational training techniques.Resumo. Cavalos são atletas natos. Ao longo de sua evolução, foram treinados de forma realmente árdua, pois os indivíduos menos habilidosos em correr e saltar por cima de obstáculos naturais -que haviam em suas rotas de fuga de predadores -certamente deixaram menor número de descendentes, se é que deixaram alguns. Ainda que a domesticação dos equinos tenha ocorrido há muito tempo, até hoje esses animais continuam a apresentar as principais características dos equídeos ancestrais: são sociais, por natureza assustados e com medo de predadores, que se sentem inseguros quando sozinhos e que passam grande parte do dia andando e pastejando. Na natureza, dificilmente se identificam ambientes, ou dias, na vida dos seres vivos em que não tenha havido algum tipo ou grau de estresse. Muitos dos aprendizados dos equinos, quer ocorram na natureza, ou no convívio com humanos, envolvem algum grau de estresse, que indica ser um fenômeno biológico cujo ótimo são valores intermediários. Em aprendizados que envolvam algum grau de estresse, o aprendizado do equino parece não se dar no momento em que ocorre ...

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“…2). Ten paired boltholes with 12mm spacing allowed the OS to be adapted in height dependent on the size of the horse, where the screens were positioned slightly below eye level (Brubaker & Udell, 2016), accounting for the blind spot in directly in front of the horse. The OS, including the feed-dispenser was custom-built (Quality Equipment, Woolpit, UK).…”

Section: System Fabricationmentioning

confidence: 99%